Review
I think Matt Johnson's previous two films were Trojan Horses, subverting genre expectations to "well, actually" be about something deeper (complimentary). Blackberry tracks the rise and fall of the eponymous device, but it's actually about ambition and how success changes people or reveals how they've always been. Nirvanna is a wacky sci-fi absurdist romp, but actually is about learning not to take your friends/relationships for granted.
Tony feels like a weird version of this. It's a biopic of Anthony Bourdain, but it also works as a coming-of-age tale anyone could relate to. For Bourdain fans, each scene feels different, showing his transformation. The film celebrates and eulogizes him, highlighting the loss of innocence common in coming-of-age stories.
Dominic Sessa is excellent as Anthony, capturing Tony's "kind, but not nice" personality. He's cocky, pretentious, sometimes justified, but also insecure and craving approval.
Antonio Banderas remains one of the sexiest men ever. He elevates a mentor role with great chemistry with Sessa. Leo Woodall's Sal steals scenes as a PSA of what Tony could become if he weren't a kind-hearted man.
Matt Johnson focuses this biopic on a single summer in Bourdain's life, emphasizing a pivotal moment without a cradle-to-grave narrative. The essential parts of his character are present; they need proper assembly.
The movie loses some juice after a pivotal fire sequence, where I felt biopic conventions start to take the reins after what was mainly a character study. The climax is also a bit too tidy for my liking. It's not afraid to show Tony's worst sides, but chickens out in how Sal reacts during the climax. They set up a level of volatility and danger with that character that seems forgotten or brushed aside by the end.
In any case, Tony is a hat trick for Matt Johnson. It does a great job serving Anthony Bourdain without mythologizing him, which I think he would have appreciated, even if he may have hated the idea of a biopic in the first place.
